1. CULTURE
• Defining Culture
• Methods of Studying Culture: Observation and
Ethnography, Identifying and Weighting Sources
• Key Aspects of Culture:
• Language
• Religion
• Politics
• Social Conventions

2. Defining Culture
• “Culture, as a body of learned behaviors
common to a given human society, acts rather
like a template (i.e. it has predictable form and
content), shaping behavior and consciousness
within a human society from generation to
generation.”
http://www.wsu.edu:8001/vcwsu/commons/t
opics/culture/culture-definition.html

3. Defining Culture
• “Obviously, 'culture' is a very broad concept; it is frequently used to
describe the whole of human experience. In order to avoid the
ensuing problem of overgeneralization, it is important to make
analytical distinctions between aspects of social life. For example,
we associate the adjective 'economic' with the production,
exchange, and consumption of commodities. If we are discussing
the 'political', we mean practices related to the generation and
distribution of power in societies. If we are talking about the
'cultural', we are concerned with the symbolic construction,
articulation, and dissemination of meaning. Given that language,
music, and images constitute the major forms of symbolic
expression, they assume special significance in the sphere of
culture.” --Manfred B. Steger, Globalization: A Very Short
Introduction.

4. Defining Culture
• In this course, we will be examining the impact
that globalization has had on the evolution,
dissolution, and definition of culture throughout
the world.
• As noted before, “CULTURE” can be a very broad
term. Therefore, it is important to narrow down
the meaning through methods of studying
various “cultures” in an attempt to define, as
closely as possible, the key elements that make
up a society’s unique cultural experience.

5. Methods of Studying Culture
• Observation and Ethnography:
This approach involves being a participant observer in a
particular culture that one wishes to study. Immersion in
the culture for a period of weeks and months allows the
participant to observe key aspects and elements of
everyday life and practices, thus allowing for reflective
observation. This means that the anthropologist who
studies the Maasai people in Africa not only lives among
them and observes their daily lives, but also conducts
interviews of members of the tribe. This reflective
observation is essential in coming to an understanding of
what constitutes that particular culture with that
particular group of people.

6. The Maasai
• The Maasai are an ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and
Northern Tanzania.

7. Ethnography
• “Ethnography is the descriptive study of a human society, based on
data obtained primarily from fieldwork. The ethnographer
immerses himself or herself in the life of a social group in order to
collect all the necessary data. Ideally, the ethnographic method
should allow the researcher to completely understand another
culture, and the behavior of the people who live in it. However,
there are various difficulties involved in gathering authentic data in
this way, due to the tendency of people to see and act from the
perspective of their own culture. By making effort to divest
themselves of self-centered thinking, ethnographers are able to
gain deeper understanding of those formerly "alien" societies, and
thus to bring the various cultures of the world into deeper
understanding and more harmonious relationships.”—New World
Encyclopedia.

8. Identifying and Weighting Sources
• As with any research project, it is important to identify
reasonable and reliable sources for information. For
example, journalists may write for newspapers or
magazines, but they are doing so in order to sell those
publications. Therefore, statements recorded in the
second or third person should weigh differently in the
reader’s mind than a first-person interview.
• Approach all readings for this course after taking into
account the source, background of the author, author’s
viewpoint, and purposes for which the article was
written.

9. Key Aspects of Culture
• Language: common understanding
• Religion: values and beliefs
• Politics: hierarchy, methods of organization
and rule
• Social Convention: generally accepted norms,
standards, customs